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My interest in languages started back when I was really young, right after learning English on my own (I was 16).  Once I saw I dominated the language very well on my own, I thought i could do the very same with other languages... I thought this world was full of opportunities and learning as many languages as possible was the best hobby ever.

Back then I was a dreamer with a lot free time in her hands.  I felt so interested in Norwegian, Swedish and Finnish.  Mostly because I loved (and still love) Norse mythology.  I also wanted to learn old Norse, I think that topic would start many interesting discussions with other people.

Back when I liked to learn languages for fun... what I liked more about the idea of learning a language was thinking I would be able to communicate with a wider range of people   That thought made me feel so happy, plus I truly enjoyed creating my own language learning material.  That's the part I enjoyed the most.

I used to search for images I could use to create my vocabulary cards,  back when Microsoft had a clip art gallery. I just picked the ones I thought that would be perfect to be used to create my vocabulary cards.

I think Urdu can also be added to the list. Kurdish can also be added to the list, not surprised tho, since both of them used the arabic script.  My first  boyfriend was Kurdish, actually I noticed they sometimes used our alphabet.  Weird isn't it?  Most kurds dislike to use the arabic script to write, specially the ones who come from north Iraq.

Other languages with a similar setting:

Yiddish.

Farsi.

Sorani (Kurdish dialect).

I wanted to learn Latin and old Norse when I was younger, mostly because I had a strong fascination with dead tongues. I guess I had too much time in my hand.  I used to see earning languages as a hobby, now I do it because I really need it.  I would still like to learn other languages for fun, but only languages that are spoken still being spoken and not dead languages.

Learning a dead language sees so pointless to me, because I no longer have time for anything else   If I had more time I'd probably go back to learning Latin tho.  You never know.

Yeah, there are so many songs I really like even tho I don't understand a word of it.  I did that a lot when I didn't understand a word of English, I mostly imagined what the singers were talking about or searched for the lyrics of those songs to be very sure   I still do that with the songs that are in a language I don't understand.  I think it's a very common thing

This very same question has been asked before in this forum actually.

I have mentioned more than a few times that I'm currently learning dutch because I might move there with my boyfriend.  So yeah, I'm learning dutch for love   What other reason could I have to learn such a complex language? None to be honest, lol.  If it wasn't because of this I'd not be learning this language in particular to be honest, I'd probably learning Hebrew or Norwegian just for fun.

Uhm, given the fact I learnt English entirely on my own thank to the internet and the Yahoo chat rooms... I'd say that technology has helped me a lot!  I'm sure that if I hadn't had internet back when I was 16... there is no way I'd have been able to learn English. 

I don't think I could have learnt English at a school or anything like that, I'm not that kind of person actually... I need a more natural learning method.  Chatting online was that for me, I started slow and badly, but I learnt from my mistakes thanks to it and learnt so much in exchange

I'm one of those person who actually has a hard time understanding what she reads when do it aloud.  For some reason I can't really remember or truly grasp what I read aloud. But when I read in silence I do.  I have meet people who experience the opposite: they need to actually vocalize what they should be reading in silence. 

Actually this happens in adults that didn't learn to read the right way, because if you learn to do it the right way, then you can be sure you won't need to vocalize.

Hebrew.  I already know the basics and how to read it, but I just don't have the chance to study it.  Unfortunately I'm stuck learning Dutch, because I might be moving there next year or so.  I also have to work a looot everyday!  So no space for learning Hebrew, I already have no time to do other things!

But if I had the chance I'd definitely learn colloquial Hebrew, since I feel a deep connection with that language... otherwise I'd not learn it.  I used to be the kind of person who liked to learn languages as a hobby, but as I grew up became more practical.  I mean, I'm not going to learn a language I might never use!  Like for example Norwegian... even tho I love that language!

I have downloaded several apps for learning Dutch, sadly it seems it's kinda hard to stick to using said apps.  I mean, most of the time I'm using my mobile I actually get carried away and forget about those apps. Most of them are  a bit boring, so you really need to have a big motivator on your side! Otherwise they will lie there all forgotten.

I will try to use mine, at least focus on one of them. I guess they can be really helpful to some, but said person must be super motivated to avoid other distractions and use the app instead!

Hi guys!  I'm here to recommend you  wonderful web site that as its name suggests, is focused on the English vocabulary.  Here is the address of this web site: http://www.theenglishvocabulary.com/index.php 

This web site is only available for native Spanish speakers, it offers several categories to choose from and comes with a simple yet effective pronunciation guide for each word (specially useful for Spanish speakers, because the English sound is transcribed in a way any Spanish speaker will understand).

I hope someone over here finds this link useful!  Let me know what you think!

Hehe, somehow sounds cute, though.

I also got some bad language habits ;(

As most of you already know, I study sinology (Chinese). However, I did not take part in any language-related classes recently, so my conversational did not get better to say the least:=) You could already call that 'Bad language habit Nr. 1'. To make matters worse, when speaking to my Chinese friends here in Switzerland, I often switch back to English/German rather than speaking Chinese all the time. Especially when I feel tired, I am really having a hard time to continue speaking in Chinese, so in this case, it often happens that I stop speaking Chinese to them. I would call that 'Bad language habit Nr.3'. I am pretty sure I could come up with some more, but let me think about it first, please  :grin:

Don't worry   When I am really tired I even seem to forget my own mother language, hehehe! But seriously, when I'm tired I also tend to switch to my mother language.  I guess I will have the same issue with Dutch.  I think this kind of ''bad language'' habit is really common, no matter how long you have been studying a language, so don't think a lot about it

I often end my sentences when speaking with 'you know?' - It's becoming worst and I need to do something about it.  :shy:

Jesus... I just wrote a post about that to another poster here, lol.  I'm using that exact phrase a lot as well, also ''like...''.  It's a  really bad habit I thought I'd never have to deal with, but I guess that as you age things just change.  Maybe something is going on with my brain... I'm also starting to use a lot words like: kinda, lotta, gotta, etc. 

Not a good habit, this post reminded me of the fact I need to start working on expressing myself in a correct manner...

Interesting conversation. I too often use too few words, in wanting to get to the point. I assume that people know what I am talking about, but they don't always and it can be very confusing.

I also sometimes go into a Southern drawl type accent when saying certain things. It's a personality thing that I think I do semi-consciously, but I sometimes fear that people will think that is my real accent when it isn't.

Ugh, I do the same thing!!!!  I try to explain something, but then I get a bit lazy and then I say something like ''you know!'' and move my hands a bit in hopes they'll know what I mean, lol.  But they rarely do.  I guess I assume they should know what I'm trying to say because what I'm trying to say is quite simple! Wrong... they rarely get it, unless they are my mom!  She gets me all the time!

I should learn to express myself in a more correct way, be more eloquent and clear.  I often leave so many words and ideas out, because in my mind I have said it all, hehehe. 

Hehehe, so you are doing something very similar to what latinos are doing in USA? hehehe!  They have Spanglish over there, I find it completely irritating, why can't they pick one of them?

I think your habit to germanize is cute   It reminds me of my grandparents...  It's good people who know you well understand what you are saying tho, because not many people are lucky enough to have that    I might do something similar if I move to the Netherlands 

I'm not a native English speaker, my mother language is Spanish and my second language is English.  I really need to practice my English right now, because I'm studying to apply for a really nice online job that requires me to have a perfect spoken English, sadly I'm not sure I'm up to the challenge.  I'm even starting to doubt my written English isn't that good either, but hopefully I can practice it over here even more.

I have some issues with some prepositions, so hopefully if I make any mistake someone over here will be happy to point it out   So seriously, if you see a mistake in this post please let me know!

I believe this is one of the most beautiful buildings in my city:

This place is named ''La Quinta Gameros'', it's located very close to Chihuahua's downtown (the place where I live).  Here are more pictures of this amazing place:

This is one of the oldest and most popular manors in my country, it was built by Don Julio Corredor Latorre, a Colombian architect. This manor used to belong to a man named ''Don Manuel Gameros''. This building was finished back in 1910. It has a lot history!

I'm the kind of person who loves using smileys when writing, because I believe there is no better way to express some things than using a smiley or ''emoticon''.  Plus, I'm not that god with writing and I really need to expand my vocabulary, hehehehe!  So I really need to use smileys as a support when chatting with relatives or friends   Plus in my opinion they make the conversation look and feel nicer, don't you think?

I know some people who never use smileys when texting or sending mails, that confuses me a little, because when they type something I'm not sure if they said with a happy or sad tone (if that makes any sense, lol?).  I guess some people don't see the need to use smileys, but I do!  I often take them as an indicator of the persons mood and even personality when we just met.

Do you like to use smileys when chatting with friends or family? For example when you use Skype, Facebook or Whatsapp? If you don't... what's your reason not to?

I could definitely see that happening, I mean, over here I see more and more Chinese immigrants!  When I was in the Netherlands I also saw a lot Chinese immigrants, they are everywhere! So I believe soon most people will have to know at least a few basic words in mandarin Chinese! Because at this speed, I really think a good part of our population will be speaking Chinese!

I don't have any plans to start learning Chinese anytime soon tho ( I still have to learn Dutch!).  But if the time comes... well, there are school over here that are already teaching Chinese

Thanks for sharing this, I had heard about this kind of stories, but to be honest I had never had the chance to try it.  I just checked one out and it seems like is a really good way to pass the time when you are bored and have nothing else to do.  I liked this story ''snow'', a little too short, but hopefully I can find a longer one. 

I completely agree with the OP, it seems most people focus on the fiction works.  I have always preferred non-fiction over fiction, I enjoy getting my hands on learning material for different subjects, but my favorite ones are astronomy, math and chemistry.  I also like books about geology and gardening.  I enjoy biographies as well, in my opinion non-fiction offers a wider selection of topics. 

Non fiction seems to offer books of common interest too   No idea why this genre isn't as popular as its counterpart.

Not a big fan of audio books here to be honest, I rather read the actual book or the e-book.  Bu I have a good reason not to like audio books, you see, I suffer from ADD, so concentrating is a real feat most of the time, because I'm not taking any kind of medication to help me focus.  So audio books aren't the way to go for me, I mean, reading a book and staying focused on it is hard enough! 

So that's what I think about audio books, I'm sure audio books are great for other people, but not for me.  They just don't work for me.

I read the Lenore comic books when I was just starting to learn English, I read them in English because they weren't available in my mother language (Spanish) and because I wanted to use what I had already learnt  

They taught me quite a bit, I mean, this kind of books are great if you want to learn some slang words and phrases, a more colloquial approach.  They have their own place in learning and perfecting a language   Very good if you are not into audio and video

My favorite book in English is the English version of Anne Frank's diary.  So far that's my favorite book, and I actually read it in English and never in Spanish.  I read it last year, once I started I just couldn't stop! I love that book because even tho the occurrences depicted in the book are not very relevant right now (not exactly, at least), the wide spectrum of emotions portrayed in the book is and will always will! 

All those emotions are so universal!  Whenever I'm having a bad time or I'm feeling down I start to remember how Anne kept her hope alive until the end. Then I realize what I'm going thru is bad, but not as bad as Anne's lack of freedom.  If she kept believing things would improve... so will I! 

I also enjoyed reading the Harry Potter series, as well as the Lord of the rings ones

I really enjoyed reading Anne Frank's diary, I know isn't an autobiography (at least not a complete one), but the emotions portrayed by her day to day made of that reading a really meaningful one.  Me and my mother were amazed at the strength and maturity this girl was already showing at such an early age, truly admirable!  I think everyone should read this book, because we could all learn a couple of lessons and possibly some food for the thought.

This year I was pleased to visit Anne Frank's house, and felt so nice to see bits of her diary on the walls of that please and references to the diary almost everywhere else. If you ever go there... you should really read the diary first!  It makes you understand everything much better!

I liked how she kept her hope almost until the end (until she lost her sister, she thought she had lost it all), but during most of the time she was locked inside she kept her hope alive.